Joel Kinnaman is one of the few returning actors from David Ayer’s 2017 film, “Suicide Squad,” that is in the cast for James Gunn’s upcoming “The Suicide Squad.” (The ‘the’ makes all the difference, you see.) In having that rare honor, he’s able to compare and contrast the way each film was made and the extent to which Warner Bros. got involved with the features. And judging by his excitement for Gunn’s sequel/reboot/whatever it is, it’s clear Kinnaman thinks fans are going to really respond well to the new superhero team-up film.
Speaking on an upcoming episode of The Playlist Podcast (the whole interview can be heard below), Kinnaman talked about his new film “Brothers by Blood,” but also took time to talk about James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” and why he’s totally up for seeing whatever original cut of the 2017 film that David Ayer wants to finish. In fact, he’s really interested in seeing the cut Joker bits featuring Jared Leto.
“You always wanna see the filmmaker’s cut, you know?” said Kinnaman. “It’s always a shame when the filmmaker’s vision doesn’t make it to the cinema. Of course, there’s always going to be compromise. I find it’s the bigger the budget, the bigger the compromise. Usually that’s the case.”
He added, “I’m sure [Ayer’s cut] would be much more interesting. David’s take on the Joker was really interesting and that didn’t really come out in the movie that we saw.”
When he switched to talking about James Gunn’s new vision for “The Suicide Squad,” it’s clear that Kinnaman doesn’t believe that Warner Bros. will want to change much of anything before August.
“With James Gunn, it’s a whole new universe. It’s a completely different thing,” Kinnaman explained. “We kinda all just started with a blank slate…It doesn’t feel like we’re doing a sequel in any way. It’s a strange kinda middle ground of a reboot. Something in between there.”
“I don’t think [Gunn] had to compromise one iota of his vision,” he continued. “He really got to do exactly what he wanted. And it’s definitely going to be the biggest budget R-rated movie that’s ever been made. And it’s heavily R-rated and super silly. It’s really like childish, childish humor and it also finds these profound moments where you get really emotionally moved. And then it’s super violent and then it’s really silly again…Every character is just so ridiculous.”
READ MORE: ‘The Suicide Squad’: James Gunn Says He Had “Full Freedom” To Kill Any Character
Silly. Childish. Super violent. Heavily R-rated. Profound. These are words that should make any fan of James Gunn and “The Suicide Squad” comics very happy. So, we definitely can’t wait to see what Kinnaman and the rest of his ‘Squad have in store for us when “The Suicide Squad” arrives in theaters and HBO Max on August 6, 2021.
